What We Talk About When We Talk About Brittney Griner

LTL, just proved his point. Which DD made quite eloquently.

 

A lot of how we talk about Brittney Griner is how we talked about Shaquille O'Neal.

 

This is a great point, above and beyond whether or not we like women's basketball.

Another comparison: Gonzaga big men Robert Sacre (last year) and Kelly Olynyk (this year) are big, gangly, strange-looking dudes. But no one will call them freaks of nature like they will Griner or the Williams sisters.

 

Someone's on the ... Eh, not going there.

 

But really, how many people are "running down" one of its greatest players?

Brittney Griner is an excellent, ridiculously dominant player. She gives her team an advantage that's about as big as you'll find on a team sport. She is unique in the women's game.

And when you watch her play and listen to her speak it's absolutely jarring how much she seems like a man playing among women. That's not demeaning or an example of my "fear" -- it's an acknowledgement of the obvious.

The article ran through a list of ways sports fans love to attack women's basketball, and I think nearly all of it is bogus. ("You promised to watch if a woman dunked!!") Again, we're not obligated to care, and not caring is not some kind of attack. There are women's sports I find very entertaining -- in some cases, more entertaining than the men's equivalent. Basketball is not one of them.

 

I actually heard somebody make a joke about Olynyk and Griner the other day, something about not being to tell which one was the guy and which one was the girl.

It's probably not fair to either one of them, but after seeing what that South African runner went through, will Griner face anything similar if she plays for Team USA in international competition?

 

Every year, when we watch our first Jayhawks game, either my husband or I will say, "Huh, so Srkcwhczyk is Kansas' 7-foot dorky white guy this season."

 

Here is a sample of some comments I pulled of a random story about here. I'm sure Maya Moore had to deal with similar attacks.

1. She hits like a man fights like a man and looks like a man hell she even dunks with her nuts in your face like a man.....
2. Not to be offensive but she's a real life Juwanna Mann
3. Yo, watch a clip of her having a interview on Youtube. I swear she's a hermaphrodite!!!!
4. It's not really sexist to say she's ugly. If Griner dropped her pants and we saw a gigantic d*ck, would it be sexist of me to say "wow, that's a dude!" Would you post and say "how DARE you say it's a dude! Who says a woman can't have a shlong bigger than my arm?"
5. You know, you don't want to say it but it's unavoidable: I just don't know if that is a woman right there, because on top of this picture, I've heard her voice in an interview and it's hella DEEP. Just saying.
6. If you told me this was Gerald Wallace in High School, I would have dead set believed you.
7. can't be a girl....the face doesn't even look like a girl......could be one of them transgender or something...
8. theres really no proof that Brittney is a woman except for her face, but other than that she dresses very much like a man and has absolutely no boobs at all and at 19 you should have boobs. I mean at least something but it's totally flat. Well good luck to her but she better watch out
9. She has the physique of a guy. Has she been tested for testosterone levels? Y chromosome? Something is not right.
10. She is a man. she is ugly and someone needs to check her gender.



Don't read on-line comments, you say? They represent the filth of the earth?

Ok, here is a story about how people yell this kind of crap at her every time she goes to an opposing arena, or that they say it to her on Twitter. But I'm sure it's the same thing Lisa Leslie had to deal with, before the modeling contract kicked in.

http://www.chron.com/sports/solomon/article/Solomon-Griner-handles-shameful-insults-with-ease-3454172.php

Here is a post on Barstool Sports titled "Would you rather have sex with Brittney Griner, or that tranny Canadian beauty queen?" Enjoy the post, but stick around for comments like this one:

id say banging a 6’8 black person with size 18 sneaks and a voice like james earl jones makes you 100% gay, even if there is a pussy down there her clit is probably twice the size of my cock. sign me up for mr/mrs universe.

http://nyc.barstoolsports.com/random-thoughts/wednesday-would-you-rather-have-sex-with-brittney-griner-or-the-canadian-beauty-queen-tranny/


But again, I'm sure it's no different than what Chamique Holdsclaw went through.

 

To be fair, I want that from female non-athletes as well.

 

At least those commenters are watching, right?

 

Steve Kerr was taunted about the assassination of his father. Jeff Grayer was taunted about the wheelchair-bound grandmother he cares for. Particular to women's sports, I would bet just about every one of them faced some kind of taunt about their sexuality in opposing arenas.

Fans, Internet comments and Barstool Sports ... I know they're out there, but you're going to write a lot of shit about a lot of athletes male and female if you're going to use those as your sources. As I look more at this story, it is pretty disappointing that those sources serve as the basis.

I think we're in the Double Down Writer Friend Zone, to be honest, and that's an uncomfortable place for all of us to be.

 

Oh christ, be a fucking better poster than that. I've never even met Kate. Can't we have a goddamn discussion here without trying to pin some other bullshit into it? Either defend your argument or don't. I didn't accuse you of being Colin Cowherd's friend when you flipped out when Tommy Craggs said he called John Wall the n-word, did I?